The unnamed narrator of this mesmerizing tale and her lover, Marya, have left their cozy life together in San Francisco for the wilds of Montana. Marya's Aunt Rebecca has died, leaving Marya five million dollars on the condition that Marya live in her house for a year. But this house is both remote and unwelcoming - it's packed with icons of the Blessed Virgin, ceramic images of female saints, and hidden relics like an ancient nun's habit, a shining tangle of red-gold human hair, and a blood-spattered wedding dress. What drama has been played out in the house? And what is its legacy? Our narrator is determined to find out. Alone in the house as Marya settles the estate, she becomes prey to doubts and fears, as well as numerous "accidents" whose significance she cannot ignore. Does the precious golden box she finds hold the key to the old woman's life? Why are her memories of Ilona, a past lover of rare sensuality, suddenly pressing in on her? Most desperately, is someone trying to kill her? And why? Ominous clues yield strange answers that in turn yield tantalizing new questions.